Box for nail-driving machines



J. J. HAYES.

X FOR NAIL DRIVING MACHINES.

No. 536,427. Patented Mar. 26. 1895.

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN J. HAYES, OF FLUSHING, NEW YORK.

BOX FOR NAIL-DRIVING MACHINES SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 536,427, dated March 26, 1895. Application file September 19,1894. Serial No. 523,469. (No model.)

T0 on whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN J. HAYES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Flushing, in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Boxes for Nail-Driving Machines, of which the following is a specification.

In machines that have heretofore been constructed for driving nails in the manufacture of boxes and other articles, a die has been made use of composed of two parts into a recess in which the nail has passed and been held in line or nearly so with a plunger that has been forced down into such recess to drive the nail out of the bottom between the two dies and into the wood, and rubber and other springs have been made use of acting against the outside opposite edges of the dies to force them together, but difficulty has been experienced in obtaining uniformity in the action of the sprlngs, for if one spring is stronger than the other, the nail 'is either not driven straight or else the plunger is worn more upon one side than upon the other by contact with the interior surface of the die against which one of the springs may act the most powerfully. In addition to this, springs that are made of wire are liable to break or to receive a strain or to be of varying expansive power, and where rubber springs are made use of they are often rendered valueless by the plunger remaining between the dies so that they are left spread apart over night or from one day to another.

The object of the present invention is to overcome the difliculties before mentioned,

and it consists in combining with the two-part dies that receive the nail, a contractile band surrounding and acting upon the dies to draw them together, such dies being supported by pins or lugs in slots so that they are free to open by the action of the nail and of the plunger,'and in consequence of the aforesaid construction, each pair of dies is free to be controlled almost entirely the driving plunger, and the plunger insures accuracy of position both of the dies and of the nail that is driven by the dies, and the contractile band is necessarily of sufficientl'ength to surround the dies and is exposed to but little tension when the dies are open by the action of the nail or plunger. Hence the spring contractile band is more durable and efficient than the springs that have heretofore been employed, and the dies are more accurate in their operation and there is less wear uponthe dies or upon the plunger than in machines heretofore constructed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation with one side of the supporting box removed. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan at the line a: w.

The supporting box is made of two parts A and B connected together by screws at O as usual, and there is within such supporting box the channel D down which the nails are allowed to pass, and the plunger E is guided by the recesses in suchbox as usual, and it is to be moved by any suitable mechanism such as ordinarily employed in nail driving machinery, and in the supporting box the proper recesses are provided for the reception of the two-part dies F F, and in the adjacent faces of these dies there are recesses forming athe dies spread apart as the nail is forced through between them, and they are still further spread apart by, the passage of the nail head. These parts thus far described being well known, do not require further explanation.

In place of using any of the numerous spring devices that have heretofore been employed with the driving mechanism of nailing machines, I make use of an endless contractile band G, preferably of rubber, passing entirely around the two dies F F and tending to draw them firmly together, and the supporting box A B is suitably recessed to give ample room for the reception of the endless contractile band G, and I make use of pins or lugs H preferably near the lower ends of the dies F F and passing into horizontal slots in the supporting boxA B, such slots being of sufficient length to allow the dies F F to open to any desired extent. I

It will now be understood that the dies F F are controlled almost entirely by the plunger E, because such dies are freeto move under the action of the contractile band G and closeand be guided by the plunger'as such plunger is drawn up, and the pins H simply support the dies in their proper positions while the nail slides down and falls into the recess of the dies, and when the plunger is brought down to drive the nail, it forces the nail down so that the point separates the lower parts of the dies F F, the upper parts of the dies being still guided by the plunger E, and the contractile band G is still further expanded as the dies are opened by the head of the nail passing down between the lower ends of such dies F F.

It will be apparent that this mode of constructing the dies and applying the endless contractile band is very cheap andsimple, and the length of the contractile band G is such that it is not liable to be injured by the ten sion thereon that results from the opening of the dies for the passage of the nail,-andif such contractile band is injured, it can be replaced by an ordinary workman with great facility.

I claim as my invention-- 1. The combination with the plunger in a nail driving machine of two part dies adapted to receive the nail between them, supports for holding such dies and in which they are free to remain in the position to which they are moved by the punch, and a continuous elastic contractile band acting only to draw the dies toward each other substantially as specified.

2. In a nail driving mechanism, the c0mbination with the dies recessed for the reception of the nail and the plunger acting upon such nail, of a contractile rubber band surrounding the dies and acting to draw them toward each other, pins upon the dies, and a supporting box for the dies having slots for the pins and recessed for the reception of the dies and the contractile band, substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 12th day of September, 1894.

JOHN J. HAYES.

Witnesses: ALoNzo W. FISK, J r., FREDERICK KNOCKER. 

